The closure of the chapter (see
our previous post) creates a challenge for the alumni and the Theta-Upsilon Housing
Company (TUHC), namely how to stay solvent while the chapter is dormant. The
TUHC does not have the financial reserves to continue paying taxes, insurance
and other holding costs, nor does it have the funds to make the repairs to the
Stone House to make it rentable to generate some income. Frankly their only
option without alumni assistance is to sell the houses.
How
did the housing issue come about?
The current situation is in large
part due to “well intentioned” policies enacted by Miami University that
mandate that students must live in dorms for both their freshmen and sophomore
years. When the Greek system complained about the financial impact on the
fraternity houses, Miami created a policy of the “sophomore exemption” that
permitted fraternities to apply yearly for permission to house sophomores. That
right would not be granted if the chapter failed to fulfill certain mandates or
if the chapter broke the campus organization rules regarding parties or hazing.
The policy also contributed inadvertently
to the development another trend among freshmen to sign off-campus leases for
their Junior year by February of their FRESHMEN year. For Fraternities, this meant that most
freshmen pledge members were signing leases to live off-campus before going
through the pledge program.
Obviously, this puts the burden of financial
stability on the alumni volunteers of the Housing Companies and one the alumni
of each fraternity when things go wrong and the sophomore exemption is lost. ALL
fraternities at Miami have been impacted by these two trends and have struggled
to maintain adequate occupancy rates. For Kappa Sigma, it has meant that the
chapter house that once held almost 50 members would bounce between 5 and 14 residents
each year for the last decade. Last year the facility housed just three members.
What
does KSTUAA recommend the alumni do about this?
The KSTUAA Advisory Board has been
actively observing the situation for the last four years. They have met with
officials at Miami and spoken with fraternity leaders at Miami and from other
campuses to better understand trends and approaches used elsewhere.
On June 11, at its annual meeting during
Miami’s Alumni Weekend, the KSTUAA Board deliberated and approved a motion
stating that “in regards to the closure of the chapter this May 2016 the KSTUAA
Advisory Board recommends to our Alumni at-large and to the Theta-Upsilon
Housing Company Board their support for a plan of action to preserve access to
the current, strategic location for an anticipated recolonization in the next
3-5 years and develop and pursue those plans immediately” The motion was
made by Brother Varnum, seconded by Brother Elder and approved unanimously by
the members present.
The board had considered 3 different
options before electing this course of action:
- Recommend never restarting a chapter AND selling the chapter house and dispersing the proceeds to support Kappa Sigma.
- Recommend an extended period without a chapter AND selling the chapter house and holding on to the proceeds to purchase property at another locations in the future
- Recommend organizing a return in 3-5 years AND attempt to preserve access to the current location for a future chapter
The decision was not arrived at
quickly and the Board spent most of the morning and afternoon discussing and
debating the merits and challenges of each of the options before arriving on
the motion for option 3.
Where
does Kappa Sigma Headquarters stand in all this?
Some executive officers on the SEC
and in the headquarters have expressed support for a recolonization of
Theta-Upsilon. Miami University is a well known, leading university and Kappa
Sigma would like to have chapter in Oxford. Theta-Upsilon’s legacy has been
mostly positive for 49 years and mostly a credit to Kappa Sigma. When the time
is right, Kappa Sigma HQ will assist in restarting a chapter by recruiting some
local volunteers and by sending an Area Recruitment Manager to jump start the
recruiting process. There is a colony process that the recruits will go
through. Muskingum University, Capitol University and the University of Cincinnati
have all gone through this process within the last 3 years.
Where
does Miami stand in all this?
All indications point to Miami
remaining committed to having a vibrant Greek System and continues to affirm its
historical legacy as the Mother of
Fraternities. Miami like most universities, see Greek Life as a feature
that attracts students to its campuses. (Can you really picture Miami without a
Greek System?) As Kappa Sigma is the
largest fraternity in the US and a well respected organization, we do not
expect Miami to oppose an eventual return to Miami. Again, Theta-Upsilon’s
legacy has been mostly positive for 49 years and mostly a credit to Miami
University.
What
was the rationale for the KSTUAA Board?
While not all the Board Members
could be present for the vote, everyone participated in conversations and emails
before the meeting. All three options were advocated and discussed seriously.
In the end, the board recognized that it was likely that Kappa Sigma HQ and
others would one day want to restart a chapter at Miami whether they voted
against it or not. In addition, the property currently owned by TUHC is very
unique and the location is strategic, located prominently on one of the two Greek
Rows, located near many academic buildings like the business school. Evidence
of this is that there are numerous investors that have come forward interested in
buying the property so they could build student housing in that location. However,
if TUHC sells the property it would be doing so in distress and the proceeds
would not be enough to purchase other property outright at another location and
certainly Kappa Sigma could not expect to secure a similarly prominent location
on a Greek Row. By deciding to return,
Kappa Sigma would be like Sigma Chi, Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Nu, Phi Kappa Tau and
others that have been closed within the last 5 years and that are making plans
to return.
What
is next?
The
KSTUAA is asking for any alumni interested in helping to register your interest
by filling out this survey. We will
hold informational conference calls to provide you with more information about
how you could get involved to see Theta-Upsilon return to Miami.
